Earlier this month, a senior official at the Trump Organization testified before a New York grand jury, marking significant development from the Manhattan district attorney's office investigation into the former president's private ventures.
Jeffrey McConney, longtime controller of the Trump Organization, was the first employee from Trump's business to testify before the grand jury following a subpoena, according to ABC News. Other witnesses have also appeared before the special grand jury.
Prosecutors are seeking information on whether former President Donald Trump gave benefits to Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's longtime chief financial officer, and whether any taxes were paid on those perks, the New York Times said in a report.
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The reports stated that a spokesman for Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the district attorney overseeing the prosecutors, declined to comment, and the Trump Organization had not commented on the matter at the time.
Vance's investigation, which includes a look into the Trump Organization's finances and a successful legal battle to obtain Trump's tax returns, recently dovetailed with a separate inquiry by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both are Democrats.
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News of a grand jury being impaneled shows Vance's investigation, which began in 2018, is reaching its final stages as his team examines whether the former president or his businesses engaged in fraud. Time is also a factor, as Vance announced in March he will not seek reelection this year.
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Allen Weisselberg, the long-serving chief financial officer of former President Donald Trump's business, is the current subject of the criminal tax investigation. Vance is now working to ascertain the extent to which Weisselberg was given certain perks by former President Donald Trump and whether taxes were paid on those perks, as reported by the New York Times.
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The report notes access to Weisselberg's tax returns could give the Manhattan District Attorney's office a clear view into whether any malfeasance was committed by the executive, signaling charges in the case could be announced as soon as this summer.
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News of this development comes more than a week after ABC News reported Jeffrey McConney, longtime controller of the Trump Organization, testified before the grand jury formed to consider charges in the investigation.
"So if Jeff McConney is cooperating, that is really bad news potentially for Weisselberg and for the Trump Organization and other individuals up to and including maybe the former president," Andrew Weissmann, a former Justice Department official and FBI general counsel who was a top prosecutor in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, told MSNBC.
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Trump has lambasted the investigation, which dovetailed with a separate inquiry by New York Attorney General Letitia James, as a "continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American history."
The Manhattan DA's office declined to comment on the matter. The Trump Organization and a representative for the former president were also contacted and have yet to respond.
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